Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Reduces Position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 249,135 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,340 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.05% of Centene worth $15,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 203.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.31.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.92. 17,524,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,140,865. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 6.42, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.85. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.11 and a 12 month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. The company's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children's health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.